gms | German Medical Science

Objectives: To assess the potential benefit of counseling parents expecting a child with clubfoot in ponseti clinic during the pre-natal period.

Methods: Parents of children with clubfeet who attended pre-natal counseling were identified from a prospectively maintained database. Between the 1st of January 2017 and 1st of November 2018 15 parents attended. The first author contacted parents and asked structured questions regarding their visit followed by a semi-structured qualitative interview about their search for information regarding clubfoot.

Results and conclusion: Of 15 parents 13 were contactable. 23% (n=3) knew what clubfoot was prior to diagnosis. 46% (n=6) were given information regarding clubfoot by other healthcare providers of which all felt ponseti clinic added to this information. 100% (n=13) of patients said the visit reduced their anxiety. When asked to score 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) regarding the following statements mean scores were: I know more about clubfoot following my visit 4.9, it reduced my anxiety 5, I feel my visit was beneficial 5, I would recommend this to friend in a similar situation 5. There is a suggestion in the data that these patients have improved compliance compared to patients that don't attend but there is insufficient data for analysis currently.

In a qualitative analysis 3 parents reported finding information easily, 4 parents struggled to find information and when they did it was regarding complex surgery including osteotomies, which is no longer the primary treatment. 2 Parents commented that it was nice to meet other parents and see children who had completed treatment.

Seeing parents expecting a child with clubfoot in ponseti clinic receives good feedback and adds to information provided by other healthcare providers. Parents report reduced anxiety and would recommend this service. Further studies are planned to further quantify this and assess any improvement in compliance with treatment.